Synopses & Reviews
Once a murderer, always a murderer? Or can a murderer be redeemed? Who do they really become after they have served decades in prison? What does it take for a killer to be accepted back into society? What is the chance that he will kill again?
Award-winning journalist Nancy Mullane found herself facing these questions when she accepted an assignment to report on the exploding costs of incarceration. But the men she met behind the walls astonished her with their remorse, introspection, determination, and unshakable hope for freedom and forgiveness.
Life After Murder is an intimately reported, utterly compelling story of five convicted murderers sentenced to life with the possibility of parole, who discover after decades in prison that their second chance, if it comes at all, is also the challenge of a lifetime. It follows their struggle for redemption, their legal battles to make good on the states promise of parole, and the lives they found after so many years inside.
Review
"Life After Murder challenges us to do the unthinkable — view those accused of horrible crimes as worthy of our concern. Nancy Mullane, a white woman who was once just as ignorant about the real world of crime and punishment as the typical television viewer, takes us on a remarkable journey behind bars. Through the stories of five unforgettable men, we are reminded of the power and possibility of redemption, as well as the nearly unforgiveable crime our nation has committed: treating some human beings as disposable." Michelle Alexander, legal scholar and author of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
Review
"What happens when men who have committed heinous crimes are released from prison? Nancy Mullane first met her five characters while they were serving life sentences for murder. She persuaded corrections officials to give her unheard of access to the inmates. Then, in an extraordinary turn of events, Mullane documented their unexpected release back into society. Her remarkable on-the-ground reporting should elicit soul-searching from the Left, Right, and Center. If these five former inmates can lead responsible, productive lives after decades in maximum-security prisons, can they show us the way toward a new policy that combines fiscal responsibility, public safety, and genuine remorse? Read this unusual story, and let the debate begin." Amy Bach, author of Ordinary Injustice: How America Holds Court and executive director, Measures for Justice
Review
"A radio journalist immerses herself in the lives of five murderers incarcerated in San Quentin State Prison in California. NPR reporter and producer Mullane received remarkable cooperation from the prison staff as well as her subjects as they sought parole for good behavior and changed character....An impressive investigative work with interesting findings that tend to contradict conventional wisdom." Kirkus Review
Review
"[Mullane's] account manages to put human faces on people who are too often demonized by the media — and then forgotten. As its title suggests, Life After Murder makes a strong argument that a sane sentencing policy should address the reality that, long after even the most terrible sins of youth, people can change." Columbia Journalism Review
Review
"Fascinating." Ebony
Review
"As Mullane shows through her immersion reporting into the lives of five murderers — before they killed, while imprisoned and after their parole — nothing is simple." San Francisco Chronicle
Review
"Life After Murder is as much a study of jarring re-entries as it is a chronicle of redemption and hope. But it's also the story of Mullane's own transformation from frightened observer to cheerleading sympathizer. The Nancy Mullane who dines easily with parolee Reed, invites convicts home for dinner with her family, and finds herself emotionally invested in their triumphs is a far cry from the woman who approached San Quentin with such quavering timidity in the opening chapter — a woman acutely aware both of her own vulnerabilities and the imperviousness of surroundings which were, for her, only temporary....Reading along — at home, out and about, somewhere you choose to be — you may find yourself undergoing a similar change." Baltimore City Paper
Synopsis
An award-winning journalist tells the personal stories of five convicted murderers, offering a new perspective on guilt, forgiveness, and second chances in America.
About the Author
Nancy Mullane develops, reports, and produces feature stories for Public Radio International's This American Life, National Public Radio, and the NPR affiliate KALW News-Crosscurrents in San Francisco. With the support of the Open Society Foundation, she is producing a two-hour, four-part, radio documentary telling the stories of men and women convicted of murder which will air nationally in 2012. She is a member of the Society for Professional Journalists, the Association of Independents in Radio, and the International Women's Media Foundation. In 2011, Nancy was the recipient of a National Edward R. Murrow Award.